Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to 1 Peter chapter 5, and reading
for our text part of verse 7. That's page 1127, if you have one of our free Bibles,
1127. 1 Peter chapter 5, Verse 7, the whole verse reads,
casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. And it is specifically the words,
He careth for you. In the beginning, of this chapter,
the elders are exhorted. And they are exhorted in verse
two to feed or care for the flock of God which is among you, taking
the oversight thereof not by constraint, but willingly, not
for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither as being lords
over God's heritage, but being ensembles to the flock. And when
the chief shepherd shall appear, he shall receive a crown of glory
that fadeth not away. Our undershepherds, the elders,
are there to care for the flock and feed the flock. Peter himself
had been a given the commission by the Lord Jesus Christ three
times, feed my lambs, feed my sheep, feed my sheep. That's
important work of a minister, a preacher, a pastor, and thinking
of the time, a shepherd looking after sheep, A major part of
his work is to find out pastures for them, where they can eat,
where they can go. You think of Psalm 23, the Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want. And it is the Lord leading them,
leading them in green pastures and beside these still waters
is a major part. of a shepherd to watch over when
that sheep gets into difficulties and troubles, to hook them out
of the ditch, to lift them up again, to watch over them in
the various things that come before them. The care of a shepherd
over his sheep. Now, in the chapter that we read,
John 10, where our Lord begins it with the parable of the shepherd
and the sheep. In that chapter, he makes it
very clear that God has already his sheep. He already has a people,
a people from eternity, thine they were and thou gavest them
me. And when he speaks of those that
he must also bring that are of another fold, there shall be
one fold and one shepherd. He's speaking of the Gentiles
as well as the Jews. The Gentiles must be brought
and brought together as one. They both shall have the same
shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, to watch over them and care for
them. The Word makes it clear that
there is a people chosen in Christ from the foundation of the world. And I have loved thee with an
everlasting love, and therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee. And in time, the Lord will bring
about what he says in this chapter, verse 14, chapter 10, John, I
am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and have known of mine. Of course it begins in eternity
with the Lord knowing his sheep. And when those sheep are born
into this world, when men, children, boys and girls are born into
this world, grow up into this world, they're just the same
as any other. They're not marked, this is one
of my sheep and this is not. We are all fallen, we are all
sinners, we've all gone astray. We are all in league with Satan. We all have not the life of God
in our souls. But during the life of God's
chosen sheep, they will be brought to know him. and to fulfil that
latter part, and am known of mine. They shall all know me
from the least unto the greatest. They shall not say every man
know the Lord, they shall all know me. The Lord shall reveal
himself to his people, he shall give them life, he shall quicken
them, into spiritual life, I give unto them eternal life, they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of mine
hand. He shall bring them to know themselves
as sinners, bring them into a concern, bring them to know him as the
Saviour, and they shall have that assurance in greater or
less a measure that they actually know that they are the Lord's
people. Now one of the ways of knowing
is told in this chapter because our Lord says very clearly that
my sheep they hear my voice and they follow me. And he could
contrast it with those of the scribes and the Pharisees who
he says very clearly that ye are not of my sheep and therefore ye hear not my
voice. So this is a mark given by our
Lord here in this chapter of being one of his people, one
of his sheep. They hear his voice, their ears
are opened to hear the word of God as it is preached, as they
read it, and they receive it like the Thessalonians, not as
the word of man, but as it is in truth the word of God. And
as they receive that Word, it has authority in their hearts,
and they believe it, they obey it, and it is used to bring faith
to them. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. And there is in that a real token
and evidence. Everyone does not hear the voice
of the Lord in the Word of God. They don't hear his voice in
Providence. They don't hear his voice in
their consciences. All men have not faith. And this
is, in this chapter, spoken of as a very distinctive thing,
something that cannot be imitated by man. something that God knows
about and his people know about, and he speaks to them. The psalmist
says, be not silent unto me, lest if thou be silent unto me,
I become like them that go down into the pen. And with Samuel,
there was a time when he did not yet know the Lord. And the
way the Lord brought him to know the Lord was to begin to speak
to him. And when he began to speak to
him, he didn't recognise it as the Lord's voice, that thought
it was Elias. But he was to know the Lord's
voice and all the way through his life, from that time, he
was ordained a prophet of the Lord. The Lord spoke to him and
he spoke to the people. And he knew that that word was
the word of the Lord and the people knew that the word in
his mouth was the word of the Lord as well. So that is set
forth here. It may be so that some of you
here You have that token, the Lord has given it to you, and
you know what it is to hear his voice in the scriptures. You go away from the house of
God, there's things that you've exercised about because of what
you've heard, things you've got to stop doing, things you've
got to start doing, things that touch your heart. Things that
make you exercise and to meditate and to feed upon the Word of
God that you hear. And that was not always the case. But when it is the case, when
you light those two in the way to amaze their heart burned within
them while the Lord talked with them, there is a scriptural evidence,
a message from the Lord that you, are one of the Lord's sheep. But there's another evidence
in this passage. And that is what is on my spirit
tonight. And that is the word of our text. He careth for you. It may be that you cannot see
the mark of a sheep in hearing his voice and following him, but you may be able to see it
more clearly in another way, in the Lord's care over you. In verse 13, the Lord speaks
about a Highling, one that is hired to look after the sheep.
He's not a shepherd himself, or maybe a shepherd, but the
sheep aren't his. He's only paid to look after
them. He doesn't actually own them.
And he's speaking about the wolf coming, but the highling. He leaves the sheep. He flees. He runs from the wolf and leaves
the sheep to the wolf. and the wolf catcheth and scattereth
sheep. And the Lord explains why the
Highling fleeth because he is an Highling and careth not for
the sheep. He does not care for the sheep. Now the implication here is that
the shepherd does care for the sheep. The Lord does. care for his people. And our text clearly says, he
careth for you, casting all your care upon him, for he careth
for you. And so here is a different aspect,
another way of being able to discern our interest in Christ
as being one of his children, one of his sheep. I know, I've
rather used this illustration before, maybe many times, the
families here, know when we have our children, we care for them. We make sure they've got clothing
and food, and if they get injured, Even if it's their fault, then
we care for them and watch over them, lift them up, pick them
up. Remember when I was probably
about eight years of age and I was running along banging two
sticks together and I tripped over and I fell and those bits
of wood, they broke underneath me and ended up sharp points. And one of them went right into
my knee. And I can remember my father,
he would have only been about 38 then, and carrying me, carrying
me back to the house and then to the doctors. And little did
they know, a bit of wood still stayed in that knee for two years.
It was two years later that it was operated on and got it out. But I always remember that. that
care when I was most in need and couldn't pick myself up in
a lot of pain. And you remember those times. I remember the time that I was
probably about 17 then. I took my bike and I drove some
25 miles to where there was a ferry that
went over to an island in Western Port Bay and I took the ferry
and went over there thinking I was going to cycle around the
island but there was so much sand and my bike wheels sunk
into it and I couldn't go anywhere and it was terribly, terribly
hot. I had a little drink and I had to wait till the next ferry
came back to go back and I was so tired and I was starting to
cycle home all that 25 miles And I saw my dad coming for me. And he realized it had been a
long while, and he got the Volkswagen Ute, and he put the bike in the
back, and he drove home. I was glad to see him. And in
those times, you remember, you think, my father cared for me. He was thinking of me and came
for me at that time. And they're those things that
a parent will do for the family because they are their children,
are their family, that they don't regularly do for a neighbor.
Yes, if a neighbor got into trouble, we're in a position to help them,
we would do it. But it wouldn't be that regular,
constant feeding, caring, watching over, and then in special times
that that care was seen. And in that care, there's a real
evidence that we, the children, belong to those parents. They
are the children. There's a love bond there, and
it's a very practical one. We wouldn't think much of it
if a parent was not feeding, not caring for the child, not
watching over them, not teaching them. Or a Christian parent,
if they weren't Bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. If they weren't teaching them
the Bible, if they weren't leading them in a path of prayer, you
would think, well, they're caring for our bodies, but they're not
caring for our souls. And we think that not right. But we put that and we look at
it in the Lord, the way the Lord does with his people. And I want
to then look at this just to confine to a few points. Firstly, his care in providing
himself for them. And then secondly, his care in
providence. And thirdly, his care over their
souls. But firstly, his care in providing
himself for them. When Abraham was going up the
mountain when God would try him, and Isaac, he says, my father,
the fire, the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham was able to say,
my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
In fact, he was not going to supply, well, literally in that
type, he did provide the ram that was caught in the thicket
by his horns. But the message was that God
himself, manifest in the flesh, in the Lord Jesus Christ, would
himself be that lamb. John the Baptist, he pointed
out, our Lord, behold the lamb of God. which taketh away the
sin of the world. It is God's provision. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the provision for his sheep, for his people,
providing himself. We think of the ordinance of
the Lord's Supper, that those who know they are God's sheep
and they are to show forth his death, They had to remember him
and they had to remember this care in providing himself, providing
a lamb, providing a substitute, providing that precious blood. Where else would we have got
it? Who else could have provided? Who else could have put away
sin? Who else could have supplied
that name? but the Lord. One thing that we most assuredly
believe is particular redemption, not general redemption. Some
people believe that redemption is general, that our Lord just
laid down his life And some believe that then whosoever in their
lifetime of their own free will believe, then his blood avails
for them. Others will say, well, the atonement
or what Christ did on Calvary is limited by God's election,
by his choice, and only those who are elect and chosen in him
will be saved. that Christ has died as potentially
to put away the sins of the whole world. Well, the scriptures are
very clear. It is for the whole world as
every nation and kindred and tongue, not just the Jews, but
the Gentiles also, but not every individual. In this chapter,
the Lord is very clear. that he lays down his life for
the sheep. In verse 15 of John chapter 10,
verse 15, as the father knoweth me, even so know I the father,
and I lay down my life for the sheep. And as throughout this
chapter, he's clearly saying, those are not hearing his voice,
the scribes, the Pharisees that are going against him, accusing
him of being equal with God, making himself the God, because
he said he's equal with the Father. Ye are not, he says, of my sheep,
but I lay down my life for the sheep. In other words, I do not
lay down my life for you. And in Numbers 3, we have particular
redemption, where the firstborn of the Israelites were numbered,
and the Levites were numbered, And one Levite had to be as a
redemption for one of the firstborn of Israel. And where there wasn't
enough Levites to redeem them, one off against the other, then
five shekels of the sanctuary had to be paid. And it was a
particular one for one redemption. In Proverbs, the Lord delights
in a just weight, a just balance, a payment no more, no less, but
exactly what is required. And so the Lord's care is a very
particular care. His going to Calvary, bearing
in his body our sins on the tree, was an act of great love. God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So he's commanding to us this
care that he had over us while we were sinners, while we had
no need of him, sought him not, while we were yet enemies to
God, Christ died for us. But this is a care a care in
providing, a care in dying, and a greater love, our Lord says,
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,
ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. And it is then
this care in providing, making provision of a ransom, a substitute,
deliver him, From going down into the pit, I have found a
ransom. And that ransom is the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is that care, that provision. What would we think again of
a family? And there was foreknown that
there was to be a need of a provision, maybe a financial provision.
and the parents made no provision for it whatsoever. But in our Lord's case, he knew
the debt his people owed, and that provision is made. He is
spoken of as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world in
the purposes of God, and in that is seen his care. It would be a blessed thing if
the Lord was to show to us, shine upon His Word, and show such
a beauty of it, that the Lord, while we were yet sinners, He
saw the provision and He cared for us to come, to suffer, to
bleed and die, when we cared not for Him at all. In this aspect
of care, It is the work of the Holy Spirit to take the things
of Jesus and reveal them unto us, unto you which believe he
is precious. They shall look upon him whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him. It is our sins
that were laid on him and his sufferings, even if it were just
our sins, would have been, you may say, as just as intense to
put away sin. He that sinneth in one point
is guilty of all, and that sentence of death is upon one sin. And all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. And the Lord died in the face
of all his people. And when the Spirit makes that
known to his people, and it touches their hearts and they perceive
the love and it softens their hearts and their hearts are drawn
out to think of that love that was set upon them from eternity
past and that brought him to suffer and bleed and die and
in that they will see a care over them when they even had
no care for their own souls at all. So the first point is the
Lord's care in providing himself a lamb, a lamb to be slain in
the face of his people, paying their debt, appeasing the wrath
of God, bringing in an everlasting righteousness. The second point I bring before
you is His care in Providence, that is in our lives. Many of
us, when we've been called by grace, we can look back to days
of unregeneracy and we can see the Lord's care over us in preserving
our lives. We realise if we were cut off,
If we had died at one particular point before we knew and believed
in the Lord, then we should surely have gone to hell. And it is
true that God's people are immortal until they are called by grace. They cannot die. They must live
to see the time that they are brought to believe. And where
there is life, there is hope. But some of us can look back
and we can see those times. Those things are to us accidents,
and yet in God it is not. Perhaps sometimes I've mentioned
the bike accident I had when I was 11, the way I finished
my primary school. High speed on a bike, lost my
footing when a car went past. When I woke up, I was in hospital.
And I'd hit a post that was guarding a concrete drain, went straight
over the handlebars, hit my head on the concrete drain, knocked
myself out. I had injuries to my neck, my
leg, my head, and three weeks in bandages. And that's how I
finished my primary school. It was a serious accident. In
fact, those that stopped to help They thought I'd been involved
in a car accident. I was so badly damaged, didn't
realise it was just the bike just hitting a post. At the same
time in the news there was a girl about my age and she was just
straddling her bike next to the curb and she lost her balance
and she fell off and she hit her head and she died. No smashed
up bike, no injuries all over her body, but one hit in the
right place, the head, and she died. And it did make a mark,
as I noted it at that time. But when looking back, you see
the care and keeping of the Lord. You think, why? Why was her life
taken? Why was I spared? And you watch
over that, look at that care in Providence. God orders all
of our lives. And there are those times we
are able to see his care and realize his care. But I believe
there's many times we don't. Nambah going towards Nambahurst
one day, and that section where you just come up from the valley
and from here, and there's a straight section, then it starts to get
a bend. And many people try and overtake
on that section. They've been all the way through
the bends down in the valley, and at last they get a straight
section. Let's overtake. And I saw someone in front of
me, and they overtook and they pulled in. And immediately a
car came the other way round the bend. And my thought was,
that car coming the other way towards Cranbrook, that person
would never have realised that there was only seconds. If they'd
been a few seconds on in that road, that car would have been
right in their path. They would have hit it head on,
full speed. I'd seen it. They wouldn't have
even known that that car ducked in that quick because it was
just around the corner. I thought, how many times have
I been held up on the road, chafed at it, been upset because I've
been held back? I'm thinking, the Lord has made
that little adjustment, even in seconds, that has saved my
life. In many things, we will never
know. If we had a blind person, And there was a piece of road
or pavement with lots of holes in it. And we said, you take
my arm. I'll lead you through this. And
as you led them through, they stumbled into one pothole and
one in the other. And they grabbed the arm and
held them up. And you didn't let them fall.
And they get through to the other side. And they said, thank you
very much. I really appreciate your help reading through all
of that and all those holes. And then you have another blind
person you lead over. But this time, you guide their
feet very carefully so it doesn't go into any of the holes. They
don't stumble. They don't feel any of the holes
at all. And they get through the other
side and say, thank you very much, but I really would have
been all right. I could have done it myself. They have no
idea. You've actually guided them round
all of those obstacles and all of those holes. Just because
you and I don't perceive any danger or think that there was
no danger doesn't mean to say that there wasn't. And it's a
great mercy where the Lord does preserve and keep us so that
we don't even realise and know It's good for us to realise that
God does watch over us and does keep us, and sometimes we do
see it, and sometimes we do realise how the Lord has so watched over
us and kept us, even in our bodies, from harm. But we think of in
many, many ways in providence, in providing employment, in providing
a husband, a wife, in providing for us a place of worship and
brethren, a minister, a pastor, in providing for us godly parents,
many things. We can see the Lord's kind providence
over us. He is ordering our lives. My
life's minutest circumstance is subject to thine eye. And it's in those things, watching
providence. In Psalm 107, at the end of that,
we read, whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they
shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. And through that
psalm, the pathway of the people of God was up and down. Many times because of their sins,
their rebelliousness, they fell down, there was none to help.
Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and He saved
them out of their distresses. Answers to prayer. A loving kindness that is to be
understood. Sometimes cross providences. Things that at the time we felt
were against us. But afterwards we can look back
and say that what I thought was against me is a token of God's
care over me. He was watching over me when
I did not even know my need of His care. He is preventing care. He is holding back care. Hold back thy servant from presumptuous
sins. Let them not have dominion over
me. when he moves us and directs
us to do what he'd have us to do, to hear those promptings
as to how to act, when to act, what to do. And we are to discern
the Lord's care. And in that care, there are tokens. We think of the shepherd and
the places where he leads his sheep and where they go. God's providence. You think of
the children of Israel going through the wilderness. Didn't
seem to be much care at first. Hemmed in, Red Sea in front,
mountains each side, Egyptians beside them, behind them. They
didn't see much care in that. But then the Lord divided the
Red Sea, brought them safely through, destroyed their enemies,
Then they sang the song of Moses. They saw the Lord's care. They
weren't destroyed by the Egyptians. The Lord destroyed the Egyptians,
but not them. Then three days later, they were
murmuring because they had no water. And when they came to the waters
of Mara, they were bitter. Again, they murmured. But there
was a tree, and it was a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ.
cast into bitter waters, bitter waters in providence, sickness,
afflictions, troubles and trials. And those bitter waters were
then able to be drunken. You might have this evening bitter
waters and you feel you cannot drink them. You cannot continue,
cannot go on. And yet with the Lord Jesus Christ
put into them, a blessing in it, fellowship with him in his
sufferings. and to see that his work for
some spiritual good and teaching, those waters then become sweet. And no doubt with dear Naomi
who said, the Lord had dealt bitterly with me. But later on,
when Obed was born, and the blessing of Ruth joined with Boaz, how
different she was then. The Lord had balanced those clouds
and had blessed her. Judge nothing before the time,
but wait on the Lord, trusting his tender care. And you know,
the more times we have those things to look back on and see
that the immediate thought was the Lord does not care. You think of the disciples. The
Lord was in the shepherd. The waves, the winds, carest
thou not that we perish? He arose, rebuked the winds and
the waves, and there was a great calm. Fancy thinking, fancy the
Lord's dear disciples saying to the Lord, carest thou not
that we perish? The Lord does care. He cares
for his sheep. We can be sure if it seems that. He is letting things go. He's
not watching. He is. Job, he said, he knoweth
the way that I take. What, Job? All what you've been
through, the Lord knoweth, and he's not stopped it. He's not
reproved your friends yet. He's not delivered you from Satan. He's not cured you yet. But Job,
he said, he knoweth the way that I take, and when he hath tried
me, I shall come forth as gold. And the Lord did care for Joe.
The Lord did care for Joseph and yet all what he went through.
We read the Lord was with Joseph in the prison, in the pit, in
a posthumous household, wherever he was. And yet it didn't mean
he didn't have troubles and didn't have trials. You and I will have
tribulation. You must through much tribulation
enter the kingdom. God's care does not mean that
we will not have trouble or tribulation, but his care will be in it. In
me you shall have peace, in the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. So it is
in providence, and providence and grace, they unite together. You think of the book of Philemon.
Onesimus, a runaway slave, ran away from his master, ran to
Rome, and in God's providence, who did he come to? The apostle
Paul. What was the apostle Paul? Was
he a free man? No, he was not a free man. He
was a prisoner. Here is a slave. He doesn't want
to be a slave. He doesn't want to be joined
with his master. He runs away, and then he finds the apostle. What an example. He's a prisoner. He's a submissive prisoner. And the Lord uses his ministry,
his example, to call Onesimus by grace and make him willing
to return to his master. And he sends a letter back so
that his master receives him and is kind to him, no more a
slave, no more a servant, but a brother beloved. God's providential
care, how many have run away and thought they'll leave their
parental home, they'll go here and there, and we'll get away
from chapel. But the Lord's ordered it, that
they haven't got away from Him, and He's brought them back, and
He's called them by grace, even in the place where they've gone.
The parable of the prodigal son, how often it is worked down in
the lives of God's sheep. He cares for them and he cares
to convert them and to bring them back and to make them known
they are his sheep. On to look then thirdly, at his
care over their souls. And really this is the most important
thing. This is the thing that discerns
it, even from those other cares, because we know the Lord is good
to all, his tender mercies are over all his works. He watches
over so many, all, all his creatures, he has compassion on. He is the
Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe. But those
that believe, they notice His care in providence, but they
notice His care as well in grace. When the Lord first called me,
I was able to see His care in providence many, many times. At that time, I stuck my hand
upon the freezer side after it defrosted. You know, if you touch
that freezer after it's turned on again, your hand grips it
and you can't get it off. And I lived on my own. I couldn't
call anyone. No one was in earshot. But in
God's providence, just before that happened, I'd made a cup
of tea. I'd made a pot of tea. I never
used a teapot. I always used a teabag. But that
time, I used a teapot. And it was in reach of my other
hand. And it was hot. And I could get it and splash
it on my hand and release my hand. Never forgotten that time. The Lord's care in that way. And those times are blessed times. And I'd known those times. But
then there was another time I had a trial that won't go into it.
But in the beginning and the end of it, I thought, well, there's
no care for my body. There's no profit after all. In any way, I was not bettered. But then I realized that there
was teaching in it. The Lord had taught my soul.
He'd instructed me in that matter. And you know that humbled me,
that softened me to think, the Lord careth for my soul. The psalmist said, no man careth
for my soul. That's how he felt. And no man
does, but the Lord cares. I trust undershepherds across
the way in the ministry do care for the souls of men, but we
cannot care. The Lord cares for souls. So his care will be seen in teaching. Note the teaching, the lessons
the Lord teaches, lessons about our sin, lessons about our own
heart, lessons of the Lord's care, of his providence. Many
lessons, but lessons that lead us to know and love the Lord
Jesus Christ. To actually realise he is providing
for our souls in the provision of his beloved Son, that He is
feeding us through the Word of God, that He is correcting us,
that He is truly shepherding us, and that He is caring for
our soul, and that soul be more than anything else. This is a true token. You notice this, and I've seen
it many times in my life, where the Lord has one of His people
He will order providences so that there are those raised up
to care for them and to provide for them and help them. And when
they're taken home, then that care is disbanded, it is taken,
it's removed away. One of the Lord's people, very,
very precious to Him. Don't ever think that, well,
For the Lord to bless a place, or even to Lord to bring a ministry
in a place, or a place of worship, you need a great big congregation.
No, he'd bring, as it were, Philip to the eunuch. He'd bring for
one. And if one soul, the Lord would
love them so much that he'd lay down his life for that soul,
And I think we do not realise how much one soul is to the Lord. If one were lost, so would all. If there's one vacant throne
at last, then why would there not be all? Salvation is sure
for his people. The name that was given our Lord
was Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Not
might, not maybe, he shall do it. It is a great blessing to
be safely brought home, and that should be the desire of us each,
that we be safely brought home to glory. And the only way, we
may say the only way that we will, is through the care of
the Good Shepherd, the care of the Lord over us. We're not able
to keep our own souls, May we be able to commit the keeping
of our souls unto Him in well-doing as unto a faithful, faithful
God. A God who will keep His sheep
and will present them at last safe before His Father's throne. May the Lord bless this word. He careth for you and may we
be helped as we go on to Put into practice the first part
of this text, casting all your care upon him, for he careth
for you. Amen.